One Last Mission
by misfit320
Summary: Five years after the end of the Reaper invasion, the crew of the Normandy assembles for one final mission, though it's one none of them want to do.


This is just a quick little one-shot. This is actually the first piece I wrote. It's supposed to act as the last piece in my "Road yo Babylon" series that I'm working on, but I figured since this was done, might as well post it. All reviews and thoughts are appreciated!

Of course, Bioware owns all the characters, etc.

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><p><span>One Last Mission<span>

The ship was dark and cold. It was still in pristine condition, as clean and neat as if she had just finished being built, and not sitting in storage. Slowly, as the engines came online, lights started coming up, illuminating the cabin. The holographic displays came on, and then the floor and ceiling lights flickered on. The shipboard AI silently ran through its checklist, making sure each system came online properly, compensating for the long time of inactivity.

As the AI finished the startup sequence, the airlock doors hissed open. At first glance, the group walking onto the ship couldn't be any more different: scientists and warriors, old and young, human and alien. But as they assembled all together in front of the holographic display of the galaxy, they each knew there was one uniting bond between them all: brotherhood. Throughout all of their battles, their victories, and their losses, they had seen it all through together.

At one point, they had been individuals, each having their own motivations, their own goals. As they were drawn together, they quickly became a team; each relying on the other for support and safety to achieve their goal. As time passed, they slowly evolved into something more: a family. They came to rely on each other not just for tactical support, but emotional support as well. This family was one forged in the fire of war. While they may not know the minutia normal families would, such as favorite colors, favorite foods, even birthdays, they had a deeper and more intimate knowledge of one another.

Each was quiet, only glancing from one to the other, the words not spoken filling the air. Silently, the man they had all followed to the ends of the galaxy punched in the coordinates of their destination. The last place they all would travel to together as a unit. Their pilot steered them clear of the dock, and out amongst the stars. The ship silently glided out of the massive station that was its home, passing by other ships, lined up as an honor guard, paying their respects to those aboard.

Slowly, the Normandy made its way out of the Citadel towards the mass relay. As they were flung away from the system, they each started to move to their own adopted parts of the ship for some solitude. Shepard and his wife took the elevator up to their quarters, while the others made their way to their respective stations. While there was really no actual need for anyone to be manning any station, the routine they slowly fell into was a welcome comfort.

In the Captain's quarters, Shepard and his wife laid silently in bed together, holding each other as much as in love as in grief. This mission brought no comfort of a job well done, no excitement of danger to be faced. Instead, it was a harsh memory of everything they, as well as countless others, had sacrificed. Even though the galaxy was in the dawn of a new era of peace, thanks in great part to the courage of those aboard the Normandy, there would always be conflict, and losses because of that.

Sensing her breathing change to the deep, regular breaths that signaled she was asleep, Shepard quietly slipped out of bed. Unable to sleep himself, he sat at his desk, and pulled up previous mission reports, pictures, and logs; anything that would remind him of why they back aboard this ship. He felt guilty for being happy with his life. Why should he have attained peace when so many around him had suffered, bled, and died? How could he, as a commanding officer, find joy when so many of those that served him had fallen? He felt he had to experience the pain, if only to remind himself that it had happened, it was all real.

He found a picture taken before Eden Prime of him, Kaiden Alenko, and Jenkins. They had just been assigned to the Normandy, and the three of them had felt invincible. Now, he was the only one still alive, the others having been lost while under his command.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't heard the soft padding of steps behind him.

"Reminiscing about the good old days?"

"It's hard to believe that it all actually happened. I start to forget someone's voice, how they talked…"

"You can't beat yourself up over them. They were all soldiers, in spirit if not in job, and they all knew the risks. How would they feel if they knew you were sitting here in the dark brooding?"

He knew she was right. Imagining the reactions of his friend brought a faint smile to his lips.

"I can almost hear Kaiden. 'Get up, get off your ass, and go kill something… sir.'"

The gentle laughing that filled the cabin did much to dissipate his melancholy. But still, it was there.

He turned to face her, and embraced her from his seat. His arms wrapping around her waist, he rested his head on her pregnant belly. "How many people do we have to lose? When will it be enough? It seems there's always some new crisis, some new galactic threat that's trying to exterminate all known life… what's next?"

She ran her fingers through his hair. This was the side of himself that he never let anyone see, not the brave, courageous, charismatic Commander Shepard; but the tired, the unsure John Shepard. He had too much pride to let people see that side. It was a side that he only showed to her. She had assumed that he was unable of feeling fear, but now she knew that he was scared a lot… he just made himself move forward through it, to help those who couldn't. That determination was one of the things that had attracted her to him from the moment they met. The vulnerability that he tried to hide was one of the things that had made her love him for the rest of their lives.

In all honesty, though, sometimes it scared her. Here he was, the paragon of humanity, the savior of the galaxy several times over, sitting alone in the night, torturing himself. She could almost feel the guilt radiating from him, a cold aura that he forced upon himself. If Shepard, the bravest man the galaxy had ever seen, could have all these insecurities beneath the surface, could be this scared, how could any of them be brave?

But she knew, in her heart, that it wasn't like that. In moments of weakness, when other would look to him for leadership and courage, he looked to her.

"There's always going to be something new coming up. Sometimes it's your turn to answer the call. Sometimes it's someone else's turn. I know that you feel it's always up to you, but it's ok to let other people do their jobs. Living in this universe has its risks; it's one of the things that make life worth living. He understood that, just as much as I know you do."

"We're here," Joker's quiet voice came over the ship-wide PA. He sounded as if he didn't want to disturb anyone, even himself.

"Come on, Skipper. It's time."

They had arrived at their target system just a short time ago. After moving into a standard orbit, the Normandy hung in space with enough distance between them and the local space stations and shipping lanes that they could feel alone. Not that the local population would have caused any problems, but they preferred to do this duty by themselves.

They stood assembled in the main cargo hold. The door was open, with a force field keeping the terrible vacuum of space at bay. There they stood, all those that could be there today. They all wore their armor or uniforms, except Ashley, whose swollen belly would not accommodate a chest plate. Instead, she stood there in a blue dress, with a Spectre Academy pin over her heart.

Shepard was in the middle, the purpose of their last journey together next to him: the shiny, black metal coffin, containing one of his closest friends: Garrus Vakarian. The head of Citadel Security had given his life protecting the council from a terrorist attack. Showing the same courage and selflessness that he had in every battle before, he had tackled a sniper high in the rafters of the council chambers. He had saved the councilors, but sent both of them hurtling to the floor below.

Shepard had been in the council chambers that day, trying to get the civilians to safety, and the memory of seeing his friend falling to his death was one that had haunted his dreams for days, and would continue to for many months to come.

"We're here not to mourn our loss, but to honor the sacrifice of our friend. He gave his life in the line of duty, a death he would be proud of, so there is no need to grieve. He always wanted to make a difference, and we can attest that it is a mission accomplished."

The coffin moved forward on the launcher it was on, moving forward towards the force field. EDI cued up a recording of "Amazing Grace" in the traditional bagpipes, an instrument that Garrus had been introduced to by Engineer Donnelly and had developed a fascination with. As one, soldier and civilian all, they snapped to attention, and gave the soldier a final salute.

As the coffin reached the force field, it slowly moved passed through, and the rockets engaged, sending it to the sun of the Turian home world of Palaven. The coffin moved slowly away from the Normandy, passing over his home world, giving Garrus the one last view of the home that he had longed for, before moving on to the sun.

"From the stars we come, to the stars we return."

The simple service completed, they all stood silent for a moment, their heads bowed in respect. Then, Shepard hit the controls, and closed the cargo bay doors.

The team stood for a moment, none of them quite wanting to be the first to break the mood. Finally, Joker cleared his throat.

"I remember the first time we met Garrus. He was such a hard-ass. It wasn't until we were fighting the Collectors that he lightened up. You know, I think I had even heard him tell a joke once, after we took out that human reaper hybrid. He came back on board and he said how all this killing of reapers was making him feel rather grim. I didn't know if he did it intentionally or not until I heard him repeat it several times."

Shepard smiled. Garrus had told the same joke on the battlefield, as well.

"I can remember when he took the job on the Citadel," Ash said. "He was so concerned that his facial scars would cause problems, he had a mask made to cover them. I made a comment about how he looked like the Phantom of the Opera, from Earth literature. The next time I saw him, he tried to sing an aria. If you've never heard a turian try to sing, then you've never known true terror."

Everyone laughed at that. Shepard remembered that day vividly, the way Ash had run into their apartment on the Citadel, saying how the Citadel was haunted, and how, if she ever went missing, he was to search the sewers.

"He was also a wonderful practical joker." Liara, the galaxy's most influential information broker, smiled as she remembered. "He took great pains to send an encrypted message to me, sending it through nine systems and eighteen contacts. When I received it, it took a week to get through the security subroutines, and I had to run the message through twelve different filters to decode it. Once I had it, it simply said 'I like chocolate cake.'"

Kelly chimed in at that. "I remember the first time I saw him eating a piece. I mentioned amino poisoning to him, and he set his fork down, looked me dead in the eye, and said 'my dear Miss Chambers, some things are worth a little pain. Chocolate cake is worth a lot of pian."

The group eventually made their way from the cargo hold to the commissary, where they all sat and had some coffee and, a surprise from Miranda, chocolate cake. As the hours went on, each of them took turns telling their favorite stories about their friend. Shepard listened to them all, and he felt the sadness leave him.

Shepard couldn't help but think of the changes they had all gone through since everything began, way back on Eden Prime. For one, he never thought the abrasive and all-business Miranda would ever set foot in a kitchen, much less to bake a chocolate cake. Then there was Jack, a psychotic, antisocial, criminal with the shaved head and tattoos when they met on the prison ship Purgatory, now smiling while telling a dirty joke that Garrus had told her about a salarian and a microscope. And Thane, the monk-like assassin who had been resigned to a slow death to disease when they met, now joining in on the laughter as Grunt complained that they wouldn't all get together at his funeral and have his favorite food: raw varren meat.

People he never would have met had now become the closest of friends, confidants, and in once case, wife. Ash came and sat next to him, and he put his arm affectionately around her shoulders, pulling her closer. She felt the difference in him. The melancholy had left him, if only for now, and he was loosening up. The cold had left him, replaced with the warmth that she always found security and comfort in.

Here, there was no Commander and Crew; they were equals, brothers and sisters, and this reunion, while possibly their last, would be made the most of. While the future still held unknown trials and tribulations, Shepard felt himself fully relaxed. _Whatever may come, _he thought, _we'll face it together._


End file.
